In the early months of the pandemic, many Victorians’ hobbies included baking bread or buying up as much toilet paper as their local grocery stores would allow—but not Jeff Poynter and Eden Oliver. The couple decided that they wanted to make an effort to support local restaurants, although they didn’t yet feel comfortable eating indoors. 

More and more people relied on the business as an essential service during the pandemic.

Not much has changed at Chef on the Run in the 25 years since the business first opened in Sidney. Much of the menu of homemade English cuisine they served in 1997 remains the same and ownership of the business is soon to be passed on to another generation of the same family.

Safaa Naeman’s Syriana Catering is struggling to keep up with demand.

Safaa Naeman doesn’t have much time for sleep. Between a full time job, a burgeoning business, and two teenage sons to raise, most nights she gets just four to five hours of shut-eye.

The Naeman family arrived in Victoria about four years ago as refugees from Syria through a private sponsorship organized by a group of about 20 people.